Colorado @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 8, 2010 ) St. Louis 2, Colorado 4

Looking ahead at the schedule six weeks ago, this series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies looked like one to remember.

Instead, both teams will just be playing out the string when they meet Thursday for the start of a four-game series.

The Cardinals were the preseason favorites in the National League Central and spent most of the season living up to that billing, spending 73 total days in first place and reaching 16 games over .500 on August 13. The following day was the last St. Louis would see in first place, as that day began a streak of five straight losses in what became a long collapse.

While the Cincinnati Reds were playing well enough to win, the Cardinals curiously began losing to all the teams they should have easily beaten, dropping nine straight series to teams with sub-.500 records. By September 1 they were already eight games out of first place, and couldn't muster a surge back to the top.

St. Louis has played better of late, taking two of three from the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates to avoid another series loss against a sub-.500 team.

The Rockies were preseason darlings as well, picked by some to make it all the way to the World Series due to a powerful lineup and the presence of Ubaldo Jimenez at the top of the rotation. For them it was the first part of the season that did not go as well, with injuries taking Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton away from the lineup for long stretches.

But as they did it both 2007 and 2009, Colorado surged at the beginning of September with wins in 13 of 15 to go from 7 1/2 games out on September 2 to one game back after a win on September 18. It has been all downhill since then, as the Rockies lost their next five and nine of their last 10 to fall out of contention.

They were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this week.

Chris Carpenter will be looking to end his season on a positive note when he takes the mound for the Cardinals on Thursday. The ace right-hander is crawling to the finish line much like his team, with losses in each of his last four starts. Carpenter has allowed 22 runs in 21 1/3 innings over that span, lasting only four innings last weekend against the Chicago Cubs.

He lost a start at Colorado earlier this season, yielding four runs on nine hits in six innings back on July 8. That marked Carpenter’s first loss in six career starts against Colorado against three wins and a 1.50 ERA.

Colorado will counter with right-hander Jason Hammel. The 28-year-old has been just as bad as Carpenter of late, allowing 17 runs in 20 innings over his last four starts. He surrendered four runs on eight hits in five innings against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend but did not factor in the decision.

Hammel has never faced the the Cardinals.